Foraging: Pick Your Food In Nature

Foraging is a method of gathering food from the wild. It can be done in many different ways, but for our purposes we will focus on finding edible plants, fruits and vegetables, that are not normally found in your area. Foraging is an important survival skill, that can provide you with much-needed food in the wild. It's not easy, but it's fairly simple to learn.

How To Become A Forager?

The first thing you need to do to become a forager is to identify plants. This isn't always easy, but there are many ways you can go about learning.

A good way is to look at wild plants in your area. You can also look at plants, that are currently around you: weeds, for example, often have more uses, than first appear. Learn what the leaves look like, the stems, and the roots. You will also need to know what part of the plant is edible, whether it's in the form of fruit, root, or leaf.

If you can't identify something, you can't eat it. Learn what flowers, trees, and other plants in your region look like. All plants have a specific shape and color, that helps people identify them. Learning about plants isn't just about the appearance, either. You'll also need to learn how to identify whether a plant is poisonous or not. This can be done in different ways. One is to read a book about plants and herbs, another is to ask someone, who works with plants.

Being a forager means you live off the land. You don't need to buy most of your food, and you can easily grow some of it in your garden. You can also easily travel long distances without carrying much food with you. Being a forager also means you must be self reliant and prepared for any situation. Finally, it means you can improve your own physical condition by using the plants you collect.

As a forager, you are self sufficient in the most basic way. You can easily feed yourself and your family no matter what the situation. You will never go hungry if you are a forager.

Finding Plants

You could go out into nature and look for them yourself. This can be time consuming and tiring, and if you're not exactly familiar with your surroundings, you might not find whatever it is you're looking for. You need to have knowledge about wild plants. Wild food is any plant you collect from the wild, and includes anything from fruits and nuts to roots and herbs.

The term "wild" is also used here in the loosest possible sense, as many common foods, that people consider "wild" are simply plants, that grow on naturally occurring wild stands of land. Edible wild plants can be found in greater quantities and variety with a minimum of effort, but most people don't have the time to do this.

When Do I Forage?

You should pick food, when the plant is in full bloom. This is usually around spring and fall, although some plants bloom more frequently than others. You can usually tell when a plant is ready to bloom by checking the leaves. When the plant is blooming, you can usually tell by the color of the leaf. If it's green, wait. If it's yellow, purple, red or brown, pick immediately. If the flower petals have fallen off, the plant is probably close to being finished blooming.

Using Foraged Food For Cooking

You can pick many different types of plants to make into food. Some plants have multiple parts, such as roots, stems and leaves. You can eat these whole, or you can remove the less accessible parts for use in cooking. Many plants can be eaten raw, but some taste better cooked to leech out some of the nutrition. For best results, many plants should be cooked for a short period of time before consumption. Also cooking these plants over a fire improves the taste, and helps to destroy any potential harmful bacteria.

Why Should I Forage Plants?

Picking plants is important for a few reasons. First and foremost, it's illegal to hunt wild animals and collect their meat or other parts without a license. This is extremely difficult to get, and if you tried you probably wouldn't get it anyway. Hunting is very dangerous and most hunters are very experienced. If you're not familiar with hunting, it's just not worth the risk.

When you hunt animals for food, you need to either skin and butcher them, or cook them. For most people, skinning and butchering an animal is too much of a hassle. And lastly, cooking doesn't always destroy all the harmful bacteria that may be in the meat. So you may get sick from eating undercooked meat. Picking plants is much easier and safer. First off, you don't need a license to forage plants. The second reason is because you can preserve them easily.

Learning To Forage

The first thing you should know about foraging is that it's not at all difficult. It's all a matter of finding what works best in your area, and that varies from person to person.

Also, you probably won't find everything you need in one area. Instead, you'll have to move about and search different areas. This is where the first rule of foraging comes into play. Don't pick anything, that looks like it could taste bad. Pick only things, that are safe to eat, and ignore anything that doesn't look appetizing.

For example, you might come across an area with many poisonous plants. These plants might not have any noticeable taste or smell, so you might mistake them for a nice ripe fruit, even though they could make you sick or harm you in any way. You'll have to learn what all is poisonous in the area, and what doesn't taste bad, but isn't good to eat.

The second rule of foraging is the most important: ask questions. Every forager should learn as much as they can about plants by talking to the people, who work with them on a regular basis. This might be a community garden or a farm. This is also where you should go to learn what areas are good for finding certain plants.

For example, if you're in the mountains and desperate for food, it probably isn't a good idea to eat anything that looks like a plant. Instead, you should only eat plants, that most people want for food. Berries, for example, are usually desired by most people, so they're usually easy to come by and many people like to eat them.

Getting Resources

You have two options:

• Option 1:

You can join a community garden, a farm, or some other place, where you can work and get food. Many large communities have community gardens for this purpose. You can also ask around at your local college or university. Many students are willing to help a fellow student with extra food, and everyone loves having fresh vegetables!

• Option 2:

You can collect berries, nuts, fruit, and any other plants you need in the wild. Of course, you should only collect plants, that you are certain are edible, and you probably shouldn't pick wild berries unless you really know what you're doing.

Let's Wrap This Up

To become a forager, you need to know what plants to look for, where they can be found, and how to prepare them. Some plants are easy to identify and others require a little more knowledge.

When foraging, you should always be aware of your surroundings. Wild plants and animals can be part of a survival situation, so you need to know how to identify them and how they can affect you.

Finally, foraging isn't just about fruits and nuts. Some plants can be used as medicine. Knowing these plants and how to use them is important otherwise you can be hurt or sick.